To all those who have upgraded to 3.90 M33-3 before on or before April 2, if you checked your System Information, you’d be surprised to see that all your System Info has been changed! Not only that, even the date has changed. Instead of showing 4/2 on the date on the top right corner of the screen, it displays 3/33. The XMB waves also move faster than normal. Below is a screenshot from darwin v.’s PSP. Notice that everything has changed into 3s. The System Software is 3.33 m33-3, the nickname is March 33 and Even the mac address has changed to 33:33:33:33:33:33!

I’m sure you guys all freaked out when you saw that. It isn’t a bug or an error. So don’t be afraid and don’t go restoring your PSPs to the previous firmwares. All those 3s are there for one reason, it is to remind you of the anniversary of the M33 Custom Firmware. And I also thought it was DA’s April Fools joke. Dark Alex has sure got good sense of humor.

So if you guys are wondering on how to fix that, all you have to do is restart the PSP after April 2 which means you can just change the date to any day after April 2 and then restart your PSP. But the thing is, you don’t even have to.

If you checked out Dark-Alex’s website, you’ll find out that he has already released the latest update for the 3.90 M33 custom firmware. There’s still no news if he’s still planning to work on the 3.93 M33 custom firmware update since the 3.93 update has really no major features added. Just a support for a few games. So what was fixed on the 3.90 M33-3 update? Here are the changes.

* March33 NO-UMD driver compatibility has increased to support games like Coded Arms, Patapon, Harvest Moon Innocent Life and probably others affected by same errors.

There are two ways on how to install the update. But like all of my guides, there’s always a requirement to follow before you can do the update.

The Requirements

• A fat or slim PSP installed with custom Firmware 3.52 M33-4 or higher.
• A WiFi connection
• A USB Cable

The Easy and Painless Way

Important: This procedure is only applicable to folks who have their PSPs installed with 3.80 M33 custom firmware or higher.

1. Turn on your PSP and on your XMB, scroll to Settings then go to Network Update. Select your Wifi access point. The PSP will search for an update and it will automatically download it.
2. After the update has been updated, it will ask you to run it now or execute the update later. If you want to run it now, press the corresponding button. If you have chosen to go back to the XMB, you can access it by scrolling to Game > Memory Stick > 3.90 M33-3 update.
3. Run the update. After the update has finished your PSP will restart by itself.
4. Congratulations, you now have a 3.90 M33-3 custom firmware. Go grab a soda or something.

The Not-So-Hard Way

This not-so-hard procedure was made for PSPs installed with 3.90 M33 or higher custom firmwares. If you don’t have 3.90 M33 custom firmware yet, follow this guide.

1. Download the 3.90 M33-3 update from Exophase forum. Unzip the file anywhere on your computer.
2. Connect your PSP to your computer via USB Cable. Copy the UPDATE folder from your computer to your PSP in this directory:/PSP/GAME
3. On your XMB, go to Game > Memory Stick and then run the 3.90 M33-3 update. Watch the update do it’s thing.
4. Follow the last step from The Easy and Painless Way procedure.

Howdy folks! It’s been quite sometime since my last post. I have been very busy with my family and my new work. I’ve quit my day job and I am a fulltime freelance designer and gamer now which means I have more time writing real game reviews and updates. So much for the gibberish. Let’s go on with the guide.

Like every guide that I’ve written, you will have to read every detail and follow every instructions. Of course there is always a requirement you must pass before you could continue with the process.

The Requirements

1. You will need a Phat or Slim PSP with 3.80 M33 or higher ( I mean 3.80 M33-2 until 3.80 M33-5).
2. You will need a GOOD WiFi connection.
3. You must have 90% or more battery and have your PSP plugged in thru the AC adapter so it won’t turn off in the middle of the update.

The Painless Procedure

1. On your XMB menu, scroll to the Settings > Network Update then press O or X. Select your active connection. Wait for the download to finish.
2.  After the update has been updated, it will ask you to run it now or execute later. If you want to run it now, press the corresponding button. If you have chosen to go back to the XMB, you can acess it by scrolling to Game > Memory Stick > 3.90 M33-2 update.
3. Once you have ran the update, the screen will turn black and you will see small text on the upper left corner of the screen. Follow the instructions and the updater will automatically download the required files so you don’t have to. Once the files has been downloaded, the updater will ask you to proceed. Proceed. It will then take you to the normal SCE Updater. From there follow the instructions. After the update has finished manually shutdown your PSP by pressing the corresponding button on the screen.

Was that easy or what? If you have comments and questions about this guide, feel free to use the form below.

A Custom Firmware without the 1.50 Kernel add-on is only half a Custom Firmware. Without the 1.50 Kernel on your PSP, the whole purpose of the custom firmware is defeated. 1.50 Kernel is all about the homebrew apps. I have already installed the 1.50 kernel add-on on my PSP and it’s awesome. I could still use the remote control, the WiFi sniffer and a lot more homebrew applications. So how do you install it? It’s quite easy.

The Requirements

• A Phat PSP with 3.90 M33 custom Firmware installed. This one does not work on a PSP slim but don’t fret, because there is one coming.
• A USB Cable. This is used as a connectivity tool between the PSP and the computer.

The Installation Guide

1. Download the 3.90 M33 Addon from Dark Alex’s website.
2. Unzip and you will find the 150k_addon folder. Copy the 150k_addon folder from your PC to PSP in this directory: PSP/GAME/
3. Download the 1.50 Firmware and place it into the root directory of your PSP.
4. Disconnect your USB cable and then on the XMB, go to GAME>Memory Stick then run the 1.50 Kernel Add on update.
5. Follow the onscreen instructions and wait. The PSP will restart automatically after the update has been installed.
6. Congratulations. Go and get your homebrew applicatons now.

So I have updated my PSP to 3.90 M33 already. It works kinda faster now. The installation process just only took me less than 5 minutes. So how did I do it? Well here you go. Another great tutorial for all PSP lovers out there.

The Requirements

Everybody must read this. This is very important. I don’t want any of you to brick your PSPs so please read this. Thank you.

1. A PSP (Phat or Slim) with installed custom firmware 3.52 M33-4 or higher. My PSP had 3.80 M33-5 custom firmware.
2. A USB Cable to connect your PSP to your computer
3. 100% fully charged battery. This is just to be sure your PSP won’t turn off in the middle of the update. It’s also good if you have your PSP plugged into your AC Adaptor.

The Installation Guide

1. Grab the 3.90 M33 installer pack and unzip it anywhere on your computer.
2. Using the USB Cable, connect the PSP to your Computer then copy the UPDATE folder from your computer to your PSP in this directory: ms0:\PSP\GAME
3. Disconnect your PSP from your computer then on your PSP XMB, go to GAME>Memory Stick then run the 3.90 M33 update. The update will verify your 3.90 eboot file and after verification you will be asked to execute the update. Execute it.
4. Follow the instructions on the SCE updater. After the update, press X or O to manually reboot.
5. Congratulations. You now have a 3.90 M33 Powered PSP.

Sony has just released a few days ago, the latest official firmware for the PSP. It’s 3.90 and I think it mostly benefits the PSP Slim users. Phat PSP users like me won’t really benefit anything from it. The new firmware has the Skype application now. Skype enables you to call using your computer to any phone around the world. Now you can call your friends from PSP to computer or PSP to PSP or PSP to phone via Skype. But you would need to buy the PSP mic and headset though. But that’s not great news. The great news is Dark Alex has done it again. You can go to his website now and download the new 3.90 M33 custom firmware and install it on your PSP.

But wait, there’s more! Dark Alex has also released the 1.50 Kernel for the 3.90 M33. You can grab it from his website too. If you have problems installing the latest custom firmware, do not worry because I will write a guide as soon as i have installed the latest update on my PSP.

I also heard that you can install 1.50 kernel on the slim now. Don’t get too excited because I’ll be writing a guide on that too.